2 Chronicles 6:8-9 But the LORD said to my father David, "Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart, Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, who is your own flesh and blood - he is the one who will build the temple for my Name."
Can you imagine how David felt when he heard this? A man after God's own heart, yet with both great regrets and great ideas has those good ideas confirmed but is denied the privilege of carrying out the plan.
I wonder whether he mourned these words, wondering or knowing perhaps, that this is the consequence of his sin, that he would be denied the honor of building God's temple. He could imagine the temple, see it in this mind, feel like he could almost touch it, but it would never be his to do. I am not sure that this is why God denied the building of the temple to David, but I am sure that sin has consequences.
As I talk about the consequences of sin, it is important not to get them confused with the forgiveness of sin or the payment of sin. Indeed, Christ paid the price of all of our sin on the cross and in the days of his separation from the Father. That sin debt has been paid for the believer. But....there are still consequences. The divorced cannot be undivorced. The premarital sexual experiences cannot be undone. The lies cannot be retracted...well, you get the idea, and you can see the consequences, in one's mind if not visible to the outside world.
I wonder if we might preach the gospel of forgiveness and redemption so clearly that it gives people a false sense of security. They know Christ has paid the eternal price of their sin; they forget that they must pay the temporal price, the earthly consequences of those same actions.
David was not permitted to build the temple. I wonder what blessings we are denied by the sinful or selfish choices we may make on a day-to-day basis....the personal peace, perhaps, if not the undefiled relationships.
No comments:
Post a Comment